I'm in the middle of checking my valves 7,000 miles after the last Desmo service I did myself. They are fine, but there are a couple of pointers i want to share. If you are checking the opening shims, you can inadvertantly push the valve down against the spring preload of the closing arm and get a false reading because you are impinging upon the closing shim clearances by moving the rocker against the preload spring. I put my thumb over the closing rocker to feel for any movement, or prevent it if necessary, while I am checking the opening shim clearances. My best results are to use feeler gauges until they stop sliding easily, then hold my thumb against the closing rocker for all other checks. Secondly, the 'Service Position' is TDC on the compression stroke, so the piston is all the way up. Khmer 1199 has a couple of great videos on YouTube if you want to get some pointers from his techniques. And lastly, do NOT buy one of those el cheapo Chinese 'crankshaft tool' POS units off Amazon or Ebay. The tangs are very thin and will snap off. Ask me how I know. I was checking the intake and exhaust durations so I could set up some cam timing profiles, and after about 5-6 minutes both tangs started to break. No plugs in the heads, btw. I managed to get the 'tool' off the crank with one tang still dangling, and some judicious use of a small magnet retrieved the other one before it could fall inside the left engine cover, but I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't noticed things getting sloppy and pulled things apart before it was too late. I didn't get the valve timing measurements finished either. So if anyone know where I can get the timing specs for the 1199 I'd appreciate it. I did get 230-235 degrees total duration for the Exhaust at .050" of lift, but not the center line, BBDC or ATDC marks or total lift and centerline unfortunately. I need them so I can build a custom exhaust for the bike. Kind of important to have those numbers when you are designing an exhaust system.
